“Flyers. Just be quick about it.”

Peter stepped through the door and moved back into the ward. The girl was curled on the cot, her knees tucked against her chest, facing away. At the sound of his entry, she made no movement; Peter guessed she was asleep.

He positioned a chair by the cot and sat with his chin in his hands. Under the tousle of her hair, he could see the mark on her neck where Sara had cut away the transmitter—a barely detectible line, almost completely healed.

She roused then, as if to meet his thoughts, and shifted on the cot to face him. The whites of her eyes were moist and full, shining in the lamplight that leaked through the curtain.

“Hey,” he said. His voice felt thick in his throat. “How are you feeling?”

Her hands were pressed together, buried to her slender wrists in the crevice between her knees. Everything about the way she held her body seemed conceived to make her appear smaller than she was.

“I came to thank you, for saving me.”

A quick tightening of her shoulders under the gown. You’re welcome.

How strange it was, speaking this way—strange because it wasn’t so strange. He had never heard the sound of the girl’s voice, and yet he did not feel this as a lack. There was something calming about it, as if she had put aside the noise of words.

“I don’t suppose you feel like talking,” Peter ventured. “Like maybe telling me your name? We could start with that, if you want.”

The girl said nothing, indicated nothing. Why would I tell you my name?

“Well, that’s okay,” Peter said. “I don’t mind. We can just sit here.”

Which was what he did; he sat with her, in the dark. After a time, a slackness came into the girl’s face. More minutes passed, and without any further acknowledgment of his presence, she closed her eyes again.